A slave No More
by mountedcombat
Summary: Lucy helps Virgo overcome her slave mentality.
1. A Beautiful Face

**Hello, this is MountedCombat.**

 **First of all, I just want to apologize to any diehard Fairy Tail fans. I have only seen the anime, and the first 48 episodes at that, so I apologize for any inaccuracies.**

 **I do not own Fairy Tail.**

"Open, gate of the maiden! Virgo!"

This is shouted by an energetic blonde-haired girl with brown eyes, who is at the moment swiping a golden key through the air. In the place that the key passed through, an ornate pair of doors appeared, opening to reveal what looked like the night sky. Within a few moments, a ball of energy flew through the portal and landed in front of her, quickly resolving itself into the shape of a woman.

As the light clears, it can be seen that this woman has pink hair cut in a bob, blue eyes, and is wearing a maid outfit. She also has a manacle on each wrist, with about two feet of chain hanging off of each one. She does a bow and asks, "What can I do for you, mistress?"

The girl answers, "First of all, Virgo, you can stop calling me mistress. My name is Lucy. Next, there are a few questions I would like to ask you."

Virgo responds, "What would you like to ask of me, mistress?"

"I told you to call me Lucy."

"Yes, mistress."

"You know what? Never mind. What I wanted to ask you is what you meant when you said that you try and take on whatever form you think your wizard will find most appealing?

"I change my appearance to appeal, to the best of my abilities, to the visual preferences of my wizard."

"Ok, so that means that I'm not looking at your true form right now?"

Virgo hesitates, an odd look coming over her face, before answering, "That is correct, mistress."

"So… would you mind if I saw your true form?"

Virgo jerks, eyes widening and face contorting in terror before she suddenly becomes covered in light and disappears.

Lucy does a double-take, then gets a thoughtful look: "She closed her own gate? What was that all about…?"

::::::::::::::::

A room. There's not much in it, just a glorified cot for a bed, and a toilet in the corner with a sink next to it. There's a flash of light, and Virgo appears in the room. She sits on the bed, eyes wide and unseeing.

"Why would she ask that? I guess she's the same as the others…"

Virgo flops on her back, arm covering her eyes. After a few moments, her shoulders start to shake as she cries herself to sleep.

::::::::::::::::

A week passes while Lucy mulls over her odd encounter with Virgo before she finally decides to call on Crux, a spirit that seems to know everything.

"Open, gate of the southern cross! Crux!"

The light resolves into a man in a meditating position. His head is in the shape of a giant, ornate silver cross with his neck connected to the back of the intersection and his face on the front of it. He has a two-pronged white mustache, each of the prongs being shaped like a cross.

Lucy sits down and asks, "Grandpa Crux? What can you tell me about Virgo?"

He sits still for a few moments, before a bubble comes out of his nose and a line of drool emerges from his mouth. To all appearances, he is now asleep.

' _I will never understand why he does that while he's still awake…'_ Lucy thinks.

After a minute, his eyes widen in surprise, his search for information apparently complete.

Lucy asks, "So? What'd you find?"

"I cannot tell you much, as personal privacy laws apply to the celestial world as well. Virgo is the spirit of the maiden, and takes the form of a maid."

"I already knew that…"

"She also likes peanuts."

"Ok…?"

"That is all I can tell you."

"WHAT!?"

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I've said all I can."

"OH COME ON!"

A flash of light and Crux is gone.

::::::::::::::::

The next day, Lucy decides to call on a friend of hers, Leo.

"Open, gate of the lion! Leo!"

When the light fades, Leo is seen to be a young man with tousled orange hair and square-framed glasses (which he only really wears because he thinks they make him look "cool").

"Hey, Leo, what do you know about Virgo?"

"Wouldn't that be a better question to ask Crux?"

"I tried. Apparently all information on her besides her name and spirit type is protected by the celestial world's privacy laws."

"That's odd. Well, truth is, I don't really know much. We never met often. Why do you ask?"

"I asked about her true form, and she freaked out and closed her own gate."

"Her true form, huh? She has so many appearances, nobody really knows what her "true form" is. Although, now that you mention it, there was a point, a couple centuries ago, when she up and vanished for almost half a year."

"That seems odd."

"Yeah. I think Aquarius knew her better. Maybe you should ask her?"

Lucy gets a nervous expression and starts sweating.

"Lucy?"

"Yeah, I've kind of been avoiding her ever since my keys were snatched by those freaky doll thingies during the battle with Bixlow."

"Oh yeah, I remember that guy. That was the first time that you summoned me. Anyway, how is that a problem?"

"Technically, you summoned yourself, and that's a problem because last time I lost her key, I couldn't sit for a week!"

"I see… well, I don't know what to tell you then. Writing a will might be a good Idea though."

"Very comforting… well, thanks for telling me what you could."

"See you around, Lucy."

Leo is coated in light, and disappears.

"Now what could have happened? And is it worth risking my life to find out?"

…

"Curse my loyal heart!"

:::::::::::::::

 _The next day…_

"Open, gate of the water bearer! Aquarius!"

The light fades to reveal the form of a mermaid.

A mermaid who looks VERY pissed off.

Lucy hides behind her bed, "Eep! Please don't kill me!"

"What did I tell you about losing my key again?"

"That… you would forgive me?"

"… No."

"Wait! Before you maim me…"

"Oh, you'll WISH I was only maiming you…"

"Eep!"

"Continue…"

"I was wondering… What do you know about Virgo's true form?"

Aquarius bristles. "And WHY would you want to know THAT?"

"I was curious about her comment that she tries to take on whatever form she think her wizard will find most appealing, and so I asked her about it. She confirmed that she was not in her true form, and I asked if I could see it."

"And what were you planning on doing THEN?"

"Huh?"

"Hitting her? Banishing her?"

"Whoa, hey, where is this coming from?"

"This is coming from the five other wizards that have asked about her true form!"

Now it's Lucy's turn to bristle, although not at Aquarius. "You mean that somebody, no, five people, have injured her, simply because they don't like how she LOOKS!?"

Aquarius looks slightly surprised, then apologetic. "I see that the assumptions I made were wrong. I apologize for my false accusations."

Lucy breathes a sigh of relief.

"But I'm still not forgiving you for losing my key."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, maybe on one condition…"

Lucy's eyes light up, "Really?"

"I said maybe."

"What's the condition?"

"Help her."

"You don't have to convince me to do that, I was going to do that anyway."

"Still. If you can help her get over what's happened, then maybe I can forgive you for losing my key."

"Ok. Although, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly was done to her? You got me kind of curious."

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes."

"All right then, here goes…

::::::::::::::

Lucy lays on her bed, mulling over everything Aquarius told her.

 _Earlier…_

"She's had five wizards ask about her true form. The first one, upon seeing it, called her a monster and terminated her contract. The second one slapped Virgo and told her to never do that in her sight again. The third one started constantly summoning her for long periods of time. After five months, she finally collapsed from exhaustion and the drain caused by spending time outside of the celestial world. He voided her contract, calling her a useless pile of hideous garbage. The fourth tied her to a stake and burned her until she wasn't able to hold a physical form anymore. And the fifth? He put her in shackles that prevented her gate from closing and then broke every bone in her body before releasing her."

Lucy is openly crying, "Why would they do that? Why would ANYBODY do that? It's not right! It's not fair, it's not right, and I won't allow it!"

Aquarius' eyes soften. "I was counting on that. Good luck, Lucy."

A flash of light and Aquarius has vanished.

 _Now…_

"So that's what happened, huh? No wonder she was so terrified. What could her true form possibly be to create so much hate towards her?"

Lucy rolls over and stares at the ceiling.

"Well, one thing's for certain. Tomorrow, I'm going to convince Virgo to show me her true form. And when she does, no matter what it is, I'll complement her on it."

::::::::::::::::

"Open, gate of the maiden! Virgo!"

The light forms into Virgo, in the same form as before.

She bows and asks, "You called, mistress?"

"I spoke to Aquarius yesterday."

Virgo flinches, "and what did you talk about, mistress?"

"Your true form."

Virgo starts to tremble, but before she can close her gate, Lucy continues.

"What those people did to you was wrong. They had no right to treat you like that. I swear that no appearances or actions on your part could ever change my opinion of you. So please, show it to me. I want to help!"

Virgo has straightened up from her bow by this point, although her head is still hung. Without saying a word, light swirls around her. When it disperses, her appearance has changed.

She still has a human shape. She's still wearing a maid outfit. She still has manacles on her wrists with chains dangling from them. And her hair is still pink. But that's where the similarities end.

Instead of being in a bob, her hair is straight, long enough to reach her waist. Due to her bowed head, her bangs are screening her face from view. She's grown a few inches taller, and is slightly slimmer. Her skin has darkened a few shades from completely white to extremely light beige.

After a few moments of silence, she lifts her head.

Her features, which had best been described as 'determined' before, are now soft. She has a round, almost childlike face.

Then she opens her eyes.

Instead of their previous cobalt blue, they are now the color of the sky on a clear summer day.

Lucy can only think of one word to describe her.

"Beautiful…"

Virgo sobs and throws herself at Lucy, wrapping her arms around this person, this person who had seen what she truly was and hadn't thought less of her because of it. Lucy just holds her, and whispers soothing sounds.

Some amount of time later, Lucy is now kneeling on the ground, with Virgo sitting in her lap. Virgo looks up, wipes away her leftover tears, and says:

"Thank you… Lucy."

 **A/N: About the wizards that mistreated Virgo:**

 **The first one was an a***hole that had already decided to end the contract.**

 **The second was jealous of Virgo's beauty.**

 **The third fell head over heels for Virgo, but wasn't willing to admit it. When she collapsed, it was like a kick in the teeth for him, reminding him that she wasn't human and a relationship was impossible.**

 **The fourth and fifth ones were simply sadistic lunatics.**


	2. A Beautiful Body

**I do not own Fairy Tail.**

"Is there anything else you would like, Lucy?"

"I should be asking you that, Virgo."

It's been three days since Virgo revealed her true form to Lucy, and those chains on her wrists might as well have been attached to Lucy with all the time that Virgo spent by her side.

No doubt about it: Virgo was much happier than before.

But Lucy wasn't satisfied.

Over the course of the three days, Virgo had done countless things for her, but had never asked for anything. Whenever Lucy had tried to see if Virgo wanted anything, she had said that she had everything she wanted.

What was the point of freeing somebody if they were just going to chain themselves back up to something else?

Something needed to change, but what?

"Hey, Virgo?"

"Yes, Lucy?"

"When was the last time you took those manacles off?"

"I haven't."

"Huh? You mean you've had those manacles on your entire life?"

"Uh-huh."

"What do they do?"

"They act as a symbol of my servitude."

"Ok then… why don't you take them off?"

"Because I'm a servant. I exist to serve. Taking them off would be giving up part of my identity."

Lucy mumbles, "Sounds like a part you don't need to me," then says, "Well you aren't a servant right now. So why don't you take them off?"

"But I am a servant."

"No, you're a friend. And while servitude is a one-way street, friendship is a two-way street. As friends, neither of us is a servant. So why don't you take them off?"

Virgo lowers her head and starts working on one of her manacles, saying, "Well, if you want me to take them off…"

Lucy reaches out and grabs her wrist, stopping her. "What I want is for you to be happy. I want you to do what YOU want to do, instead of only doing what others want you to do."

Virgo smiles at her and says, "Just knowing how much you care for me makes me happier than I've ever been, and what I want to do is make you happy, too."

Lucy feels her face heat up and turns around, putting her hands against her cheeks: _'why am I blushing?'_

Virgo notices Lucy turn around and asks, "Lucy? Is something wrong?"

Lucy stutters out: "n-n-no, e-everything's f-f-fine!"

Virgo's expression falls. "I did something to upset you, didn't I?"

Lucy immediately spins back around and grabs Virgo's hands. "No! The only way you could possibly upset me is if you shut me out!"

Virgo looks back up at Lucy, who feels her face heat back up and turns around again. Lucy studies the ground in front of her while absentmindedly swinging one of her legs.

Lucy mumbles, "So… see you tomorrow?"

Virgo nods and becomes wrapped in light before disappearing. Lucy leans back against the wall and slides to the floor.

' _Now what was THAT about?'_

:::::::::::::::

 _The next day…_

"Open, gate of the maiden! Virgo!"

When the light fades, Virgo is revealed, standing in her true form.

"What would you like, Lucy?"

"I would like to get you some new clothes. No offense, but you are going to draw a LOT of attention if you walk around… anywhere, really, in a maid outfit."

"What do you want me to wear?"

"I don't know yet, that's why we're here," Lucy comments as she indicates the clothing store they're in.

After some browsing, they decide on a few outfits for Virgo to try on. One is a black shirt with a white knee-length skirt, reminiscent of, but not the same as, her maid outfit. Another is a sky blue blouse that complements her eyes, coupled with a pink skirt that goes about three-quarters of the way to her knees. Finally, there is a casual, lavender-colored dress with a high-cut V-neck. The sleeves stop just above her elbows, and the 'skirt' portion goes about halfway down her calves.

With Virgo's new outfits selected, their next order of business is for her to try them on. The two go to the changing rooms, and Virgo steps inside with the clothing. A minute later, Virgo demurely steps out, wearing the black and white outfit.

Lucy casts a critical eye over the outfit as she thinks, _'hmm… I hadn't thought about it, but if her outfits look too good on her, she'll get even more attention than she would in her maid outfit.'_ Then she sighs, _'Well, too late to back out now.'_

After trying on the other two outfits, the pair heads to the counter, where Lucy buys the clothes.

::::::::::::::::

 _Later that day…_

Lucy trudges into her apartment, then flops down on her bed. "Man, I'd forgotten how exhausting shopping can be…"

"Would you like anything, Lucy?"

Lucy looks up, "Oh, hey, I forgot to close your gate, didn't I? Sorry about that, just give me a moment…"

"Wait."

Lucy pauses. "Yes?"

Virgo starts to take off one of her manacles.

Lucy starts talking, "Hey, you don't have to, I don't want to force to do anything before you're ready."

Virgo smiles and shakes her head. "It's okay; I want to."

The first manacle comes off, and Lucy gives Virgo's uncovered wrist a wide-eyed stare.

Virgo's wrist is horridly chafed, covered in sores where the skin has worn away and scars where it's tried to grow back. There isn't a single square centimeter of healthy skin on it.

Lucy gasps, "Holy-! Hold on a sec, I'll get some ointment and bandages!" and runs over to her kitchenette, opening the cabinet where she keeps her medical supplies.

Virgo walks over and grabs Lucy's shoulder, saying "It's Ok, it doesn't even hurt…"

Lucy, still rummaging through the cabinet, shouts "No! It's NOT Ok! It probably just doesn't hurt because the nerve endings were worn off or something!"

Lucy sits Virgo down in a chair at her dining room table, then opens up a bottle of disinfecting ointment. "This is going to sting a little…"

Lucy starts rubbing the ointment on to Virgo's wrist, prompting Virgo to give Lucy a confused look. "What do you mean? I don't feel anything…"

Lucy pauses, then asks, "If I do this…" at which point she presses her thumb on one of the open sores, "does it hurt?"

Virgo shakes her head, "Uh-uh."

Lucy tears up, then throws herself at Virgo, hugging her and crying into her shoulder. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry…"

Virgo doesn't seem to know how to react to this, but after a few moments, Virgo awkwardly puts her arms around Lucy, attempting to comfort her.

A little bit later, Lucy calms down enough to sit back. "I'm sorry. You're the one who's hurt, and here you are comforting me."

"It's all right. It just shows how much you care about me."

"Ok. All right, let's finish treating your wrists."

Lucy finishes applying the ointment to Virgo's wrist, then wraps it in a bandage. Afterwards, Virgo removes her other manacle, and Lucy treats that wrist as well.

Lucy brushes her hands together and says, "Well, you should probably get back to the celestial world. Your wrists will heal faster there."

"All right. Good night, Lucy."

"Good night, Virgo."

A flash of light, and Virgo disappears.


	3. A Beautiful Mind

**I do not own Fairy Tail.**

Virgo, wearing her blue blouse and pink skirt, is looking around in wonder. "So many people…"

Lucy points out, "Well this IS an amusement park."

As they continue to walk along, Lucy thinks about the events that brought them there.

::::::::::::::

 _Yesterday_

"Seriously, Virgo, I want to treat you to something. It doesn't count if that something is "whatever I want to do"."

"I don't care what I do, as long as I'm with you while I do it."

It had been about a week since Virgo's manacles had been removed, and her wrists had more or less healed. There were still scars, but all of the open wounds were gone. Lucy was trying to plan an activity for her and Virgo to do together, but Virgo seemed incapable of wanting anything, making it impossible for Lucy to find something that she knew Virgo would enjoy. She thinks she has an idea on how to find something, but wasn't sure if it would work…

"Hey, Virgo?"

"Yes, Lucy?"

"If I could say that I wanted to do anything, what would you be happiest to hear?"

"That is what I would be happiest to hear."

"Huh?"

"You saying that you wanted to do anything is what I would be happiest to hear."

"That makes no sense to me."

"If you want to do anything, then that means that we can try all sorts of new things, and you will be happy to just be doing something, while I will be happy just being with you."

Lucy's cheeks tint slightly, but she's too busy ripping her hair out to notice or care. "AAAAARRRGH! THIS IS SO… wait… have you ever been to an amusement park?"

"No, I haven't."

"Ok then, an amusement park will have lots of new things for you to try!"

:::::::::::::::

 _Today_

"So, Virgo, what do you want to do first?"

"How about… that one, over there?"

"That one, over there… REALLY helpful."

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok. So which one were you talking about?"

"The one that looks like a giant diamond."

Lucy spots the ride she's talking about, and reads the name. "The Gravity Sphere? But it's shaped like a diamond!"

The two head over to the ride and get in line. When they get to the front, Lucy hands over the three tickets required for each of them to get on. She could have gotten some wristbands instead of this roll of tickets and saved some money, but she felt that those were just a bit too similar to the manacles that Virgo's wrists had just recovered from.

As they step inside the ride, they see that the inside shaped like a dodecagon, and has walls that slope so that the ceiling is larger than the floor. One side of the shape is the door while the rest each have two cushioned panels resting against them. They see that everybody else is leaning flat against one of the panels, so the two of them find a pair of open panels and lean back. After a few more moments, all of the panels are taken, and the door closes. A small light at each corner of the room keeps the ride lit.

A couple of seconds pass, then they feel the ride jerk in to motion. But the initial jerk is all they feel.

"Did it stop?" Lucy asks.

Then they notice that they are gradually being pulled against the walls.

"What's happening?" Lucy asks, "It's like gravity's… shifting… so THAT'S why it's called the "Gravity Sphere"…"

Soon, Lucy can't pick her arms up off of the panel. Then she finds herself sliding upwards. Wait, no, it's the panel that's sliding upwards! Lucy shifts her head to the right seeing that Virgo is moving her arms as if she's trying to figure out how to use them in these new conditions. After a minute or two, the panels slide back to the floor, and they feel gravity gradually shift back to their feet.

"That was kind of fun…" Lucy comments, "I wonder how they did that?"

Virgo looks at her and says "The diamond was spinning, creating enough centrifugal force to simulate three Gs of force pulling us against the wall, overriding the one G pulling us against the ground."

Lucy sighs. "That was a rhetorical question: I wasn't looking for an explanation of how they did that."

Virgo hangs her head, "I'm sorry."

Lucy waves it off, "No, I'm the one who should be sorry. You're always trying to help, so when you hear a request, you don't stop to consider it, you just do it. That's one of the things I like about you." _'Wait, did I just say what I think I just said?'_

Virgo seems to brighten up a little bit. "Thank you, Lucy."

"No problem."

The two wander around for a little bit longer before Lucy notices something nearby: "Ooh! A Ferris wheel! I always loved those when I was a kid!"

The two get in line for the ride. Every 30 seconds or so, one of the carriages would empty, and new people would fill it back up. After a long wait, the two of them are finally at the front of the line.

"Big…" Virgo comments, looking up at the wheel.

"Yeah, that's kind of the point. It doesn't move all that quickly, but it's the view you have when you reach the top that attracts people."

Lucy coughs up the 10 tickets required to get the two of them on, and they load in to a newly emptied carriage. The wheel turns for a few seconds, then stops.

Virgo looks around with confusion, "Why are we stopped?"

"They're letting the next couple people on. Due to its size, they can only let people off and on a carriage that is at the very bottom of the wheel. So whenever a carriage reaches the bottom, they let the people in it off of the ride, and let anybody who's waiting on."

While Lucy was explaining this, the wheel had cycled the next three carriages. They spend the next few minutes sitting in amicable silence, enjoying the view.

Or at least that's what Lucy's doing.

As they near the top of the wheel, Lucy turns to Virgo to comment on the wonderful view, only to see Virgo staring straight down, wide-eyed and hyperventilating with panic. Lucy shifts so that she's sitting right next to her.

"Virgo?"

No answer.

Lucy grabs Virgo's shoulder.

"Virgo? What's wrong, Virgo?"

Virgo starts, then turns and throws herself at Lucy, almost tackling her to the floor of the carriage. Before Lucy can ask what's going on, Virgo starts sobbing into her shoulder. Lucy holds Virgo and whispers soothing noises, smiling softly as she remembers the first time this had happened; the night that Virgo had revealed her true form.

Some 10 minutes later, their carriage reaches the bottom. Lucy climbs out, practically carrying a still-crying Virgo. The two get a lot of stares, but Lucy ignores them in favor of getting Virgo someplace quiet, where they can talk. She soon finds a bench in a neighboring park, and sits down with Virgo.

"Do you mind telling me what's wrong?"

Virgo, who has more or less calmed down by now, answers, "I don't know. It's just, as we got higher in to the air, I started feeling afraid. I didn't know why I was afraid, and I knew that there was no reason to be, but I still was. And as we continued to get higher, it just got worse."

Lucy gives her a strange look: "Are you… afraid of heights?"

Virgo pauses. "I… I don't know. That's the first time that I've ever been more than twenty feet off the ground."

Lucy gives a rueful chuckle and comments, "Well, if just now is anything to go by, you are definitely afraid of heights."

After a few minutes of peace and quiet, Virgo leans her head against Lucy's shoulder. Lucy looks at her in surprise, before her expression softens as she realizes that Virgo fell asleep.

"Well, being scared out of your mind IS pretty draining."

Lucy leans her head against Virgo's, and her last thought before she falls asleep is:

' _Hmm… this feels nice…'_

:::::::::::::::

Lucy yawns, slowly waking up as the sun begins to set.  
*Yawn…* "Huh?"

She notices that her left arm is pinned in place. When she looks, she sees that Virgo is still leaned against her shoulder.

' _Huh…? What happened…?'_

Then the events from earlier that day flood through her mind, causing her to jump a little and start blushing.

' _What… oops!'_

Before she can even start her train of thought, she notices that her little jump caused Virgo to slip enough to start falling off of her shoulder. She catches Virgo and props her up again. As she watches over the sleeping Virgo, she doesn't realize it, but she has the fondest of smiles on her face.

::::::::::::::::

About half an hour later, as the sun finishes setting, Virgo starts to stir.

Lucy smiles at her. "Good morning, sleepyhead."

Virgo sits up with eyes half-closed, and looks around while mumbling, "Good morning."

Her brain finishes processing where she is and what just happened, causing the exact same reaction as Lucy. Namely, a small jump and a light blush. "I'm sorry!"

"It's ok, I fell asleep too. I guess we were both exhausted from earlier. Anyway, you should probably be getting back to the celestial world."

Virgo gets a bit of a disappointed look on her face, which Lucy completely misses. "Ok…"

A flash of light, and Virgo disappears. Lucy gets up and brushes herself off, then comments, "Well, I guess it's time to go home, then," before walking back towards her house.

:::::::::::::::

That night, as Lucy lays asleep, there is a flash of light. Lucy rolls over, cracking an eye at what disturbed her rest.

"Hey Virgo…" she mumbles.

"Hi Lucy. I had a bad dream. Would you mind if I slept with you tonight?"

"Sure, go ahead…" Lucy mumbles before falling asleep again.

Virgo climbs in bed with Lucy and snuggles up against her before falling asleep herself.

And then Lucy's brain finishes processing the conversation that just happened.

She shoots up into a sitting position, "WAIT WHAT!?"

Virgo is out like a light, though, and doesn't answer.

' _What just happened?'_

Lucy looks down at the sleeping Virgo and smiles.

' _She looks so peaceful…'_

Then Virgo lets out a small whimper in her sleep and starts reaching her arms forward.

Lucy thinks, _'Well, one night can't hurt, right?'_ and lays back down, allowing Virgo to pull her into a hug.

' _So warm…'_


	4. Morning (Re)Discovery

**I do not own Fairy Tail.**

As Lucy wakes up, she hears Virgo cooking in her apartment's kitchenette.

Virgo looks over and says, "Good morning, Lucy."

Lucy, still not fully awake, responds with a yawn and a "Good morning, Virgo."

"I prepared some eggs, would you like some?"

"Sure…"

A full three seconds pass before Lucy shouts, "HUH? WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE, VIRGO!?"

"I'm making you breakfast. Didn't I just say that?"

"No, I mean, why are you in my apartment instead of the celestial world?"

"I had a bad dream last night and came here to sleep with you."

Lucy pinches herself to make sure that she isn't having some weird, super-vivid dream.

' _Wow, I guess that actually happened.'_ "So what was the dream about?"

Although Lucy can't see this due to the fact that Virgo is facing away from her, Virgo turns as red as a tomato.

Virgo, hesitant and with a slight stutter, recounts: "Um, well, you see… in my dream, I watch all the times that you've comforted or helped me in some way… except you reject me each time. Like, when I reveal my true form, you call me hideous. And when-"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

"Huh?"

"You are not allowed to dream things like that!"

"But it's not like I can control-"

"NOPE! I reject your reality and substitute my own!"

"That doesn't make any sense…"

"You came here last night because you thought that being near me would ward off any more bad dreams, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So stay here every night! If you're right, then that will make sure that your dreams never lie to you like that again."

Virgo starts blushing. "You… you realize what you're suggesting… right?"

Lucy starts blushing as well. "Yeah, but if it will help you… I'll do anything."

The two stand in awkward silence while they process the conversation that just occurred, trying to figure out how they feel about the implications.

The tension is broken when Lucy notices a giant smoking hole in her apartment's wall. "What happened to the wall?"

"Natsu stopped by earlier."

"Wow. How in the world did I manage to not wake up?"

Virgo shrugs. "I don't know. Did you still want those eggs?"

"Sure."

The two of them sit down and enjoy a pleasant breakfast together.

Lucy wonders out loud, "So why was Natsu here, anyway?"

Virgo responds, "He never said. He asked if he could talk to you, and I told him that you were tired and still asleep. Before he could respond, there was a series of loud bangs from outside. We both looked out, and Gray was sitting there in an anti-aircraft turret. Natsu asked him what he was doing, and Gray grinned, took off the sunglasses that he was wearing, and responded 'You, my friend, were just shot down.'"

Lucy begins to look a little miffed. "Okay, I REALLY want to know how I managed to not wake up."

Virgo fidgets a little bit, "I may or may not have put earmuffs on you when I saw Natsu coming."

"That explains it… but didn't you say you didn't know how I'd managed to sleep through Natsu's arrival?"

"Um, well, I lied."

Lucy gives Virgo a surprised stare and blinks. Then blinks again. "You… you lied?"

"I'm really very sorry…"

"No, no, it's okay, it's just… I never really thought that you were capable of lying."

Virgo looks down, "I'm sorry."

Before Lucy can respond, there's a small explosion in her apartment wall. Lucy doesn't even look, "Couldn't you have just used your other hole, Natsu?"

Natsu, standing in the brand-new hole in Lucy's wall, pauses in the middle of the windup for what was probably supposed to be a noisy, out-of-the-blue greeting. He looks over to the side and notices the other hole in her wall, before grinning, rubbing the back of his head, and commenting, "Oops, guess I forgot about that, huh?"

Lucy gives a weary smile and affectionately sighs, "That's something only you could do, you know that?"

As they continue to banter back and forth, an odd look comes over Virgo's face. It's similar to frustration, but not quite the same…

*A-hem* Virgo clears her throat to get their attentions. "Lucy, you should finish your eggs before they get cold."

"Oh, right, sorry about that. These are really good, by the way."

Natsu does a double-take, "Wait, you can cook, Virgo?"

A vein pops on Virgo's forehead, and she growls out, "I'm a maid, of COURSE I can cook!"

While Natsu apologizes for his bout(?) of idiocy, Lucy wonders what got Virgo so hostile all of a sudden. She concludes that it's simply wounded pride, since the only other possibility she can think of is simply impossible.

"Well, Natsu, I'll see you at the Guild Hall later, Okay?" Lucy says.  
"Oh yeah, that reminds me why I came here in the first place! You haven't stopped by the Guild Hall lately, and everybody is wondering where you went!"

"I've been helping Virgo with some stuff." As she says this, Lucy notices that Virgo had at some point changed back to the form she'd used when Lucy had first summoned her. _'Guess she's still not comfortable showing her true form to others, huh?'_

Natsu looks a little confused and asks, "What kind of stuff could get a Celestial Spirit to ask their wizard for help?"

"She didn't ask for my help, but I think the better question is, where's Happy?"

Natsu blinks and looks around. "Where IS Happy? He was with me a minute ago… I'm gonna go look for him, see ya later!"

With this, Natsu turns and jumps back out of the hole in the wall.

Lucy smiles and shakes her head, "Man, he is SUCH a goofball…"

That odd look comes over Virgo's face again, but it's gone by the time Lucy looks back up.

"So, I noticed that you still aren't comfortable showing it to others."

As Lucy says this, Virgo's form becomes wrapped in light. At about the same time that Lucy finishes speaking, the light clears to reveal Virgo, back in her true form.

Virgo nods her head in response to Lucy's statement.

Another explosion. Lucy screams out, "STOP BLOWING BLOODY HOLES IN MY WALL!"

Natsu pauses, then looks to his right and sees the first hole he made. After that, he looks to his left, and sees the second hole he made. He grins and rubs the back of his head, "Oops, guess I forgot about that, huh?"

Lucy, trembling with rage, growls out "You're paying for the repairs, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I think I know where Happy went, though…"

Natsu walks over to Lucy's refrigerator and opens it, revealing a very nervous looking Happy sitting in the middle of a pile of fish.

Happy throws himself at Natsu, "Natsu, You've gotta get me outta here! Virgo has a scary secret, and I don't want her to hurt me!"

Natsu looks around, "Where IS Virgo, anyway?"

Lucy looks surprised, then looks at the other chair at her table to discover that it is, indeed empty.

Natsu jumps over to one of the holes in the wall and says, "Well, see ya later!" before jumping out, Happy following close behind.

After a few moments, Virgo gets up from underneath the table, her hair a bit frazzled.

"I didn't expect him to show up again, I didn't even have time to change my appearance…"

Lucy nods, "So that's why you hid under the table. Your hair's messed up, by the way."

Virgo's eyes look up as high as they can, then she gets a bit of a pout-y expression as she reaches up and starts trying to put her hair back in order.

Lucy giggles. "Have I ever mentioned how much I love having you around?"

Virgo pauses her efforts, bringing her attention back to Lucy. "Huh? I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Oh, nothing. Come on, everybody's waiting for us!"

As Lucy jogs out the door, Virgo smiles until she's out of sight. Then her expression falls.

' _You mean everybody's waiting for you…'_


	5. A not-so-simple walk

**FINALLY! It took for-freaking-EVER to reconstruct this chapter, but here it is! I really liked the first version better, but I could not figure out how I wrote it.**

 **This chapter takes place on the same day as the last one, and starts at about noon.**

 **I do not own Fairy Tail.**

"Blah-de-blah" – speaking

' _Blah-de-blah'_ – thinking

"Well, Lucy, I think I'll head back to the Celestial World."

"Really? But we're almost to the guild hall!"

Virgo smiles. "I know." _'That's why I'm going.'_ "I was just thinking that I should get back to the Celestial World before I start getting side effects."

"Oh, ok. You HAVE spent, what, almost thirty hours straight here? Be sure to rest up, because you're sleeping with me tonight! …I'm sorry, that came out wrong."

Virgo's thought in response to that is, _'Huh?'_

A response she apparently wore on her face, as Lucy asks, "Wait, you didn't forget our discussion this morning already, did you?"

Virgo thinks back, _'Let's see… I woke up… shooed Natsu away… prepared eggs… Lucy woke up… OH!'_ Virgo blushes, "I'm sorry, I had forgotten."

"Well, consider yourself reminded! Who came up with that saying, anyway? Oh well, who cares? See you later!"

Virgo gets that smile that people use when they know that they're supposed to smile, but have no idea what they're smiling at. _'That train of thought was so random, I could almost believe that it was Natsu thinking it.'_ She frowns as he comes to mind. _'What's his deal anyway? It's obvious that Lucy only sees him as a friend! What is he, brain dead? He needs to just... back the hell away from my Lucy!'_

Virgo gasps. _'When… when did I get possessive? When did I start seeing her as MY Lucy, instead of just Lucy? And why am I mad at Natsu for getting Lucy to look at him? It's almost like I'm-'_

Lucy breaks into Virgo's train of thought, "Physical plane to Virgo, come in, Virgo."

Virgo jumps and rapidly backs up when she tunes back into reality to see Lucy's face, inches from hers.

Virgo stutters, "Wh-what was that?"

Lucy answers, "I was getting your attention, of course! I've never had to work that hard to get it before!" then, thoughtfully, almost to herself, comments, "I've actually had to work harder to _lose_ it, actually," then throws her arm around Virgo's shoulder and loudly says, "But I have your attention now, right?"

Virgo notices that Lucy is starting to pronounce her words… oddly… but she's more worried about the fact that Lucy is starting to _act_ oddly.

"Um… Lucy? Are you feeling all right?"

Lucy, still speaking loudly, responds, "Yeah, I feel fine, like I'm nice and _fluffy…_ "

"Fluffy? Come on, let's get to the guild hall. Don't want to keep everybody waiting, right?"

"Aw, those people are no fun, with all their fancy rules…"

Rules? Okay, something was definitely wrong. If anything, the Fairy Tail guild made a point to break any and all rules they encountered.

"I really think that we should get to the guild hall."

"An' I said I didn't wanna go!"

Lucy is starting to definitely slur her words, her complexion is changing, and she's starting to lean somewhat heavily on Virgo.

Virgo asks her, "Can I borrow your cell phone for a moment?"

"Sure!"

Lucy hands Virgo her cell phone, and Virgo calls the guild hall's number. Mirajane picks up, "Hello, Fairy Tail guild hall, Mirajane speaking."

Virgo says, "Mira? I think something's wrong with Lucy."

Mira responds, "And what makes you say that?"

Lucy, at more or less the same time, also asks, "An' what makes you say that?"

Virgo tells Mira, "She's acting… weird, I can't think of how else to describe it."

Lucy leans over and shouts into the phone, "I'm not acting weird; Virgo here is being an annoying little prick an' keeps telling me to go to the guild hall!"

Virgo shouts back, "Going to the guild hall was your idea!" almost missing Mirajane's response, "Where are you? I'll have someone pick you up."

Virgo answers, "We're about three blocks down Main Street."

At this point, Lucy starts trying to run away, but Virgo lifts her into the air before she's even taken two steps.

Lucy begins screaming, "NO! I DON' WANNA GO! PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN!"

Less than a minute later, Elfman arrives and holds out a lollipop.

"I DON' WANNA ooh, a lollipop!"

Lucy takes the lollipop and starts happily sucking on it, while Elfman and Virgo guide her towards the guild hall. Less than halfway there, Lucy passes out and Elfman picks her up to carry her the rest of the way.

When they get to the guild hall, Elfman sets her on one of the benches while Mirajane and Levy run over to check on her. Cana calls out from her position on the other side of the room, "I heard the call. My conclusion: she's drunk."

Virgo, who has started wringing her hands with worry, says, "But I know she hasn't had any alcohol since six this morning!"

Cana, picking up her barrel, walks over, saying, "Well, if I've judged her level of drunkenness properly, she should wake up and hurl into the first thing she sees in 3… 2… 1…"

Lucy jerks upright and turns, heaving into the barrel that Cana had conveniently placed right next to her, prompting Virgo to run over and hold her hair back.

Cana grins at being proven right, then says, "Anyway, while I don't have an answer for how she could have gotten drunk without drinking any alcohol, I would certainly like an answer to the question: How do you know, without a shadow of a doubt, that Lucy hasn't had any alcohol to drink since six?"

Virgo cries out, "Because I was with her!"

"And what were you doing with Lucy at six AM?

Virgo, realizing that she was very close to starting up the rumor mill, tries to change the subject: "Shouldn't we be worried about her?"

As she's saying this, Lucy finishes heaving and passes out again. Virgo gently lays her back down.

Cana grins and says, "Don't worry. She'll wake up in a little while feeling like she lost a head butting contest with a train, but that'll be it. So, are you going to answer my question?"

The whole room is silent, waiting for Virgo's response. You can practically see the words "This ought to be good" hanging in the air… oh, wait, they actually were hanging in the air. Reedus must have done a spell. A quick glare from Erza convinces him to dispel it.

Much to Virgo's relief, and Cana's surprise, Lucy chooses that moment to wake up. "Ugh, I feel like I lost a head butting contest with a train…"

Cana grins, but it's forced. _'Something's not right. She should have needed at least 53 minutes and 17 seconds to wake up from that.'_

Virgo, however, is simply relieved. "Lucy! Thank goodness! Are you okay?"

Lucy responds, "Aside from this headache? I'm fine. You don't have to be so worried… Virgo."

The hesitation is so slight that nobody notices it.

Nobody but Virgo, that is.

She glares, demanding "Who are you and what have you done with Lucy?"

Lucy looks up, "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Virgo's fist slams into Lucy's face, slamming her through the table and into the floor. "I said, who are you and what have you done with Lucy?"

Lucy leaps to her feet, "And I said, what are you talking about? I'm right here!"

"Natsu's ridiculously hard to injure, but even he would have a cracked skull from that impact."

Everybody realizes that, true to Virgo's words, Lucy is completely unharmed from the blow.

Lucy looks surprised for a moment, then gets an evil grin. "Well that was fast. Tell me, how did you figure it out?"

Virgo tells her, "Answer MY question first."

"Well, for my name, you can just call me Lucy for now. As for what I did with her? I just suppressed her personality. Your turn."

"Lucy would never forget her friends' names, even for a split second."

'Lucy' blinks in surprise, then grins again. "So you noticed that, huh? and here I thought I managed to hide it."

"So how do we get her back?"

"And why would I tell you that?"

Everybody had been stunned by the sudden turn of events, but Natsu snapped out of it at this point and wrapped his fist in flames, shouting "Because if you don't, we'll BEAT it out of you!"

Erza puts a hand in front of him, stopping him. "If you do that, you'll be hurting Lucy, too. Warren, do you think you can use your telepathy to drive it out?"

Warren steps forward, "I can try."

'Lucy' smirks, then, when Warren gains a look of concentration, takes one herself. After a few moments, both of them collapse, with Warren catching himself while Virgo catches Lucy.

Warren, staggering back to his feet, sighs, "That was exhausting. I'm going to go home and crash. See ya later." and exits the guild hall.

A minute later, Lucy comes to, putting a hand to her temple and commenting, "Ugh, I feel like I lost a head butting contest with a train..."

Virgo sighs and tells her, "Come on, let's get you home. You need some rest."

Lucy responds, "Yeah, a nap sounds really good right now."

Virgo lifts Lucy to her feet, and they walk towards the doors. As they're passing through, Virgo comments, "Remind me to thank Warren for driving that thing out of you."

Lucy looks slightly confused. "He drove it out of me? It seemed to me like it wanted to leave."

Virgo has just enough time to look surprised before a crate lands on Lucy.


	6. Brawl

**I do not own Fairy Tail.**

CRACK!

Lucy's hand crashed into Virgo's face, snapping her head to the side.

"How could you?"

"I-I'm sorry, Lucy-"

CRACK!

"Don't you DARE call me by my name!"

"I'm sorry, mistress."

"You should have been watching, Virgo. You failed me..."

Virgo looks up and sees Lucy's legs crumple, the bones completely shattered, while her arms bend in places and directions that they were never meant to.

Lucy continues, "Look at what happens when you fail me."

Virgo wakes up, sobbing, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

:::::::::::::::

It had been three days. Three days since that spirit had dropped a crate on Lucy and put her in a coma. In that time, Virgo had made one trip back to the Celestial World to try to rest and relieve the pain from spending too much time in the Physical Plane.

That's when she'd had the nightmare.

Less than an hour of sleep in over three days was starting to take its toll on her. Her limbs felt like lead, and she had bags under her eyes so deep that it looked like she'd been punched.

Virgo looks Lucy over for the fifth time in the last minute.

Her legs were completely covered in casts. The impact had pulverized the bones, and it was practically guaranteed that her legs would never work properly again. Her right arm was also in a full cast: every bone in that arm and half of them in that hand had broken in at least one place. Her left arm was casted from just below the elbow to the base of her fingers. Each of the bones in that forearm had broken in two places, and a quarter of the bones in her hand had broken. She also had a back brace to support a few cracked disks in her lower back, and a cast on her chest for seven broken ribs. To complete the ensemble, she had bandages wrapped all around her head, covering everything except her face.

It was a miracle she had even survived.

Why? Why would that… that _Thing_ do this to her? What possible reason could it have had? Virgo doesn't know, and she doesn't really care. Thinking hurts.

Throughout the day, people stop by to check on Lucy. Occasionally, one tries to get Virgo's attention. She ignores them. It's always the same.

Eat something.

Get some rest.

She can't eat, not while Lucy's like this.

She can't sleep, not while Lucy's like this.

A while later, she hears somebody else enter. She ignores them too.

Then she gets thrown out the window.

She lands flat on her back on the street below. After a minute, she staggers to her feet, exhaustion having rendered her eyes dull and her limbs heavy.

As she starts to turn back towards the hospital, she sees somebody else land in the street, although they land on their feet. After a few moments, her brain registers who it is that's standing there.

'Warren'.

Rage fills Virgo's eyes, and energy fills her limbs.

"YOU!"

Virgo throws a punch with all her might, pounding 'Warren' into the ground.

"YOU TOOK LUCY FROM ME!"

Virgo picks him up and pounds him with an uppercut, flinging him into the air.

"I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"

As he falls back down, she punches him as hard as she can, sending him flying into the distance.

Or at least that's what should have happened.

Instead, on the final hit, 'Warren' catches her fist, then does a twisting maneuver that plants his feet and flips Virgo over him, slamming her on her back.

He steps back with a smirk.

"My my, someone's feisty today."

Virgo staggers back to her feet.

"SHUT UP!"

Virgo leaps at him with a wild haymaker, but he steps aside and swings a leg up, tripping her and sending her tumbling through the air and into the side of a building.

"Can't we just talk like two civilized spirits? I mean, she isn't dead, right? If she is, then that crate was a lot heavier than it looked."

"No, she's not dead. She's just in a FREAKING COMA, and will probably NEVER WALK AGAIN!"

Charging out of the rubble, she tackles him to the ground, whereupon she proceeds to start whaling on him, blow after blow pounding into his face.

Five minutes later, she peters out and stops, breathing heavily.

"You done yet? Yeesh, you've got stamina, I'll give you that."

Virgo leaps to her feet and picks him up by the front of his shirt.

"Of course, your blows are lacking-"

Virgo punches him in the face.

"Strength. You see what I mean? I barely even felt that."

"SHUT UP!"

Virgo throws all her strength into a punch, aimed at his smug grin.

A punch that he stops with a single finger.

"And that, my friend, is the problem with spending too much time in the Physical Plane without a body native to it. It saps your strength to the point that you can hardly fight. That's why I have this whole possession shtick. I keep all my powers as a Celestial Spirit, but become immune to the side effects of the Physical Plane."

Virgo, face contorted in hatred and tears of anger streaming down her face, says, "I swear I'll end you if it's the last thing I do!"

Warren looks amused at that. "Good luck," he says incredulously. "Well, it's been fun, but I really have to go."

Warren walks away, leaving Virgo to collapse onto her knees. She bends forward and pounds the ground, "DAMN IT!"

 **A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, but that ending was just too perfect to pass up.**

 **Also: Yes, I know that that probably isn't a very realistic set of injuries for a crate of indeterminate weight being dropped on your head, but that's how it worked out in my mind.**


	7. first three words of song Radioactive

**I do not own Fairy Tail.**

::::::::::::::::

The wet snap of a bone breaking, and a scream of pain. Virgo's eyes had been squeezed shut in anticipation of the agony, but it hadn't come. She opens her eyes in confusion before being overcome by horror.

Lucy is tied to a table across from her, and Warren is standing over her with a club. But something is off with him.

That's it, he's possessed. It's 'Warren'.

"Awake? Good. Now you can watch."

The club descends, bringing another snap and another scream. Virgo screams too, but in anger, and starts thrashing, tearing at her bonds.

But her efforts are useless. She has no choice but to watch as 'Warren' methodically breaks every bone in Lucy's body. About halfway through Virgo's been reduced to a sobbing mess. All she can do is chant, "I'm sorry," over and over again, for she knows the pain that Lucy is going through.

Virgo finally wakes up, screaming "LUCY!"

She looks around, a wild look in her eyes, before recognizing where she is. She'd fallen asleep in Lucy's hospital room. Virgo sighs and checks the clock. 12:05 AM.

' _Thirty minutes, huh?'_

The last time she had seen the clock, it had been 11:35 PM, so she had gotten an absolute maximum of thirty minutes of sleep.

Virgo sighs again and gets up, heading to the nearest bathroom to wash her face. It had been two and a half days since 'Warren' had stopped by, and that was the first time she'd fallen asleep. She could barely think or move, and she was starting to hurt pretty badly from spending too much time in the physical plane. In the last week, she had spent less than twelve hours in the Celestial World, and ten of those hours were during the first day. She really hopes that Lucy will wake up soon; then maybe she can get some actual sleep.

Virgo walks back into Lucy's hospital room and sits down next to Lucy's bed again. She's so exhausted, she almost misses the word that she's been waiting five days to hear.

"Virgo…"

Virgo's head snaps up, then to the side. Lucy's eyes are barely open, and are glazed with pain, but she is awake. Virgo tears up, then sobs and cries "Lucy!" She starts to throw herself at Lucy, but catches herself before she lands, remembering that many of Lucy's bones are still very much broken.

Lucy manages to murmur, "What happened to you…?"

Aside from the bags under her eyes, Virgo also had filthy, matted hair, red, puffy eyes, and an assortment of scratches from debris during her fight with 'Warren' a few days ago.

Virgo just smiles, though. That was entirely like Lucy, having a majority of the bones in her body broken, and being more worried about her friend not washing her hair. Virgo answers Lucy, "What happened to me is that spirit dropping a crate on you."

Lucy looks a little confused. "How did that affect you like this?"

Virgo responds, "Well, I've only gotten about an hour of sleep since then. Oh, we should probably call in a doctor; they'll want to know that you've woken up."

"How long was I out?"

Virgo glances at the clock, which reads 12:09 AM. "Five days, eleven hours and thirty seven minutes."

Lucy frowns. "You didn't just make that up, did you?"

Virgo shakes her head, "No, I-" and passes out.

Lucy's eyes slide closed as she mumbles, "I think I'll sleep too…"

::::::::::::::::

Early in the afternoon of the next calendar day (roughly 38 hours later), Lucy slides back to consciousness. As her eyes open, she notices that she's in a hospital room.

' _Huh? Why aren't I in my apartment?'_

Lucy tries to sit up, but stops when she's hit by waves of pain from all over her body. She groans in pain, then notices something shifting on her bed. Moving just her head and eyes, she looks down and sees a woman with disgustingly dirty waist-length pink hair, sleeping with her head on Lucy's bed. As Lucy looks at her, the woman mumbles Lucy's name.

' _Don't I know her from somewhere? Oh well. Hospitals have doctors, right? And those doctors will know what happened to me.'_

Lucy does her best to look around, and eventually spots a small box practically underneath her left hand. The box has a button on it, and a cable that snakes over the edge of the bed and out of sight. She goes to press it with her index finger, but is reminded of the fact that there are broken bones in her arm when she tries to move it into position. After recovering from the pain, she uses her pinkie to reach over and press the button.

' _Phew, that was exhausting…'_ Lucy thinks before falling asleep.

A minute later, a doctor arrives at Lucy's room. When he looks in the room, though, he sees the exact same thing that he'd seen yesterday, which only differed from the five days before it in that the pink-haired one was asleep. She had definitely looked like she needed it.

The doctor sighs and walks over to the bed, fully expecting the nurse to have been mistaken about the call button being pressed. However, when he gets there and looks, he notices that Lucy's hand is slightly out of place… and that one of her fingers is resting on the call button.

He taps her on the shoulder, then when she doesn't respond in any way, he pulls open an eyelid and shines a light in her eye. He grins when her pupil contracts in reaction to the light. He heads back out to the nurse's station and tells the nurse on duty, "She's asleep."

The nurse smiles, and the two of them go back to work.

::::::::::::::::

As Lucy wakes up some time later, the woman who had been there last time she woke up greets her, "Hey, Lucy. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Lucy frowns and concentrates on the woman's face. Lucy definitely knew her from somewhere.

"Um… Virgo? Is that your name?"

Virgo's eyes widen in shock, then she stands up fast enough to knock over her chair before backpedaling as fast as she can. When she hits the wall, she collapses into a ball on the floor, rocking back and forth and saying "Not again, not again, not again…"

::::::::::::::::

 **I actually did some research on the effects of comas, so for those of you that have fallen prey to the myth that a coma is essentially a really long nap, it's not. The damage that caused the coma leaves various lasting effects that only time can heal, with the effects decided more or less at random from a list.**

 **If you want (at least a portion of) that list, read on. If not, move on.**

 **Keep in mind, the symptoms a person shows are pretty much randomly selected from this list, so they may have only one, or they may have every single one. The durations of the symptoms are also pretty much randomly selected, anywhere from a few days to the rest of their lives.**

 **This list is in no particular order.**

 **\- Things associated with newborns, i.e. waking up in the middle of the night, putting things in their mouths, not recognizing the need to use the bathroom, and lack of balance.**

 **\- Outbursts of anger that aren't remembered**

 **\- Lack of basic memory, such as how to walk, talk, and eat.**

 **\- Tiring easily**

 **\- Incoherent speaking**

 **\- Temporary memory loss**

 **\- Abnormal expressions of sexuality**

 **\- feeling "unsafe" while alone, night sounds in particular are frightening. These fears are best dispersed by any form of physical contact.**

 **\- Double vision**

 **\- Sensitive hearing**

 **\- Weakness**

 **\- Partial paralysis**

 **\- Lack of coordination**

 **\- Loss of tactile sense**

 **\- Short-term memory loss**

 **\- Inability to pay attention to multiple things or inability to pay attention to only one thing**

 **\- Lack of emotional control**

 **\- Paranoia**

 **\- Depression**

 **\- Difficulty detecting others' emotions; for example not noticing that someone close to them is upset or angry**

 **\- Temporary relapsing back into a coma**

 **Phew, that list was longer than I expected it to be. Anyway, for those of you that read that, you now understand the extent of POSSIBLE damage that COULD HAVE been received by somebody in a coma. Those emphases are because I don't want to receive flak for having Lucy see straight or anything like that.**


	8. Daily Life with Coma Victims

**I do not own Fairy Tail.**

::::::::::::::::

Lucy is screaming at Virgo, "STAY AWAY FROM ME, YOU PINK-HAIRED _FREAK_! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, TELLING ME WHAT TO DO? GO DISAPPEAR, BEFORE-"

Lucy suddenly pauses, a confused look on her face. "I'm sorry, what were we talking about, Virgo?"

Virgo gives a forced smile, almost more similar to a grimace. "Oh, nothing important."

Virgo knows that Lucy doesn't mean the things she says during the fits of rage that the coma had left behind, but that doesn't meant that they don't hurt. Even then though, that pain is nothing compared to her continued existence in this plane.

' _It's been about a month since I was last in the Celestial World for any significant length of time, and it's only getting worse. How in the world did Loki put up with this for more than two YEARS and STILL think that he hadn't paid enough for his crime?"_

The problem with Virgo's condition, though, is that one of the symptoms that the coma left Lucy with was a deep-seated fear of being alone, to the point where she would have a panic attack if at any time she couldn't see or feel any other people. Virgo had done her best to keep Lucy calm, always standing within arm's reach and resting a hand somewhere on Lucy; her shoulder, her hand, even her head. Virgo had spent every night since Lucy "woke up" in bed with her.

Due to this, Virgo had been plenty of sleep. But that sleep did nothing to protect her from the pain of her prolonged stay. To distract herself, Virgo went over the checklist of Lucy's physical issues, and how they were healing. Most of Lucy's bones had completely healed, and some medical magic had fixed the ones in her legs to the point that they could be used, although they were still incredibly fragile, driving Lucy to use a wheelchair in order to minimize the chance of a re-break. Since Lucy tired easily, the wheelchair had the added bonus of converting into a cot, accommodating her frequent naps. Lucy's spine had also mostly healed, so it didn't need a brace anymore, although she still had to be careful with her posture to minimize the amount of stress placed on the bad discs.

As Virgo is thinking, an alarm on Lucy's phone goes off. Lucy and Virgo both go over to the bathroom, where Lucy drops her pants around her ankles and relieves herself, while Virgo does her best to give Lucy some semblance of privacy without being far enough away to trigger a panic attack. You see, the coma had stripped Lucy of the ability to recognize her body's signals that told her when it was time to use the bathroom, so she had taken to simply going every hour, on the hour.

Normally, the combination of Lucy's monophobia ( **fear of being alone** ) and her need to consistently use the bathroom would have resulted in frequent panic attacks. However, the coma had also somewhat conveniently – and rather apparently – stripped her of any sense of modesty, so she didn't find it odd or uncomfortable to have Virgo in the room with her while she relieved herself.

"What's wrong, Virgo?"

Virgo looks over her shoulder to see that Lucy was back in her wheelchair, looking at her expectantly.

"Oh, it's nothing." Virgo responds as Lucy wheels herself over to the door, which Virgo holds open for her.

Lucy gives Virgo a stern look. "When was the last time you were in the Celestial World?"

Virgo looks away and mumbles, "A month ago."

"Go."

Virgo looks back at Lucy to protest, but Lucy cuts her off. "At this point, you're probably in worse shape than I am, and with the shape I'm in, that's an impressive feat."

Virgo groans in frustration, "fine, but let me call somebody over to take care of you."

Virgo picks up Lucy's phone and dials the guild hall. Mirajane answers, "Hello, Fairy Tail guild hall, Mirajane speaking."

Virgo tells her, "Hey Mira, this is Virgo. Could you come over and take care of Lucy for a day or two? She wants me to go back to the Celestial World for a few days."

"Sure thing!"

::::::::::::::::

"She may start screaming at you. Don't worry, she never means anything she says during these outbursts. And she has severe monophobia, so you need to be with her at all times. That includes in the bathroom! Don't worry, she won't care if you're in there with her."

Mirajane asks, "Is there anything else, Virgo?"

"Um… oh, if she randomly goes to sleep, that's ok. She tires easily, so that's expected."

"Are you done yet?" Lucy groans.

"I think that's everything…" Virgo mutters.

"Alright then," Lucy says, "close, gate of the maiden!"

A swirl of light wraps around Virgo, and she disappears.

::::::::::::::::

 _One week later…_

Virgo is pacing restlessly around the room in the Celestial World that she calls 'home.' "It's been a week! Lucy should have reopened my gate by now!"

Virgo suddenly stops. "That's it, I'm going."

Virgo concentrates, quickly forcing her own gate open. She steps through, only to be greeted by the sight of Lucy Crying.

With Mirajane standing over her.

The Mirajane that she had trusted to take care of Lucy had made her cry.

This… this was unforgivable!

Virgo strides forward, screaming "What did you do to her, bitch!?"

Mirajane spins around. "Virgo! Thank goodness you're here!"

Or at least that's what she tried to say. What actually happened was Virgo backhanding her through the wall between "thank" and "goodness." Virgo then turns and pulls Lucy into a hug. "Shh… I'm here now, it's all right, everything's all right now."

::::::::::::::::

 _Half an hour ago…_

A certain injured blonde-haired girl sits up in her bed, stretching and yawning. _'Hm? I feel like there's something missing…'_

That's when she notices a familiar white-haired woman in the bed with her. She immediately leaps to her feet, shouting "Who are you and what are you doing in my bed!?"

The woman sits up, rubbing her eyes. "Oh, good morning. Do you need to use the bathroom? I don't think you've gone yet this morning…" This is immediately followed by a yawn.

"Wha…? No! Answer my question!"

The woman has just about finished waking up. "All right, what was the question again?"

The blonde, with obviously forced patience, asks "Who are you and what are you doing in my bed?"

This gets the woman's attention. "You don't remember?"

"Remember what!?"

The woman gets a thoughtful look, "Virgo never mentioned-"

The blonde interrupts her, "What do you know about Virgo?" then realizes what had been "missing" when she had woken up, "Where is she?"

The woman starts to look seriously worried. "What exactly do you remember?"

"I don't remember anything about last night!"

"No, what do you remember about anything? Do you remember your name?"

"Of course I remember my name! It's… it's…" Shock passes over Lucy's face. "I _don't_ remember my name…"

"Your name is Lucy, and my name is Mirajane. What _do_ you remember?"

Lucy shakes her head, "I remember that this is my apartment, and that I live here with my friend Virgo…"

Mirajane asks "What can you tell me about Virgo?"

"She's my friend, and we live here together… that's it…."

"All right, I guess we just have to wait for the memories to come back. In the meantime, you should probably use the bathroom."

Lucy gives her a confused look. "But I don't have to-"

A warm, wet sensation spreads between her legs.

Mirajane sighs. "Come on, let's get you changed out of those. I'll tell you all of the… issues… that you have while we do that."

"But – I didn't have to pee!"

"Issue #1: you can't recognize when you need to use the bathroom."

Lucy nods, "Okay…" and starts towards the bathroom, then freezes, turning bright red. "w-w-wait, **let's!?** "

Mira nods, "Yes, let's. Issue #2: you have severe monophobia – fear of being alone – so somebody needs to accompany you every-WAIT!"

While Mira had been talking, Lucy had grabbed some spare clothes and run over to the bathroom. "I'm sure I'll be okay for 15 seconds!" Lucy then slams the door shut and locks it. "Okay, now to-"

There's something behind her.

Lucy spins around, screaming. The bathroom is empty. But she can still feel it there. Just waiting for her to let her guard down…

Pounding. Not her heart. Somebody's pounding on the door. Right, Mira. She's saying something. The door? Right, she had locked it. Lucy fumbles with the lock, not taking her eyes off of the rest of the bathroom. Eventually she manages to unlock it. Mira opens the door, and the thing vanishes.

Lucy, panting, asks "what was that?"

Mirajane sighs, "That was your monophobia."

"So that will happen any time I'm alone?"

"Yes."

Lucy stalks back out into the living/bedroom area.

"RAAH!" she yells as she lashes out, kicking one of the legs of her bed.

Pain.

Lucy falls onto the bed, screaming and holding her leg.

Mirajane winces, commenting "Issue #3: the bones in your legs are extremely fragile."

"YOU COULD HAVE TOLD ME SOONER!"

A number of minutes later, Lucy is sitting on the edge of her bed, tears streaming down her face from a combination of pain, humiliation, and anger, while Mirajane stands by watching helplessly.

There's a flash of light, and when the two of them look up, Virgo is striding towards them. Mirajane starts talking, "Virgo! Thank-" but is backhanded through the wall mid-sentence. Virgo turns to Lucy and hugs her, murmuring "Shh… I'm here now, it's all right, everything's all right now."

Lucy sniffles, "Thanks. But, tell me… what did Mira do?"

::::::::::::::::

 **Weird how Lucy forgot everything but Virgo, huh? The way I see it, those are some of her most precious memories, so she clung to them with everything she had.**

 **So, the list of coma symptoms that have manifested in Lucy so far (both in the last chapter and in this chapter) is:**

 **\- Abnormal expressions of sexuality**

 **\- Monophobia (feeling "unsafe" while alone)**

 **\- Not recognizing the need to use the bathroom**

 **\- Outbursts of anger that aren't remembered**

 **\- Temporary memory loss**

 **\- Temporary relapsing back into a coma**

 **\- Tiring easily**


	9. True Love

**Sorry this is taking so long, but I just can't seem to spend a significant amount of time on any one story… as of this moment (when I post this chapter), I have approximately 20 chapters in progress across about 12 different stories. You know what I need? (Peanut pops up out of nowhere) "FOCUS."**

 **Also, I was just realizing that my "slow burn" had turned into something more akin to "smoldering embers." I'll try to pick the romance back up.**

 **Finally, I feel the need to apologize. It's been over a month since I came up with anything to add to this WIP chapter, and I have the feeling that that's only going to get worse as the story continues, so I'm going to be dropping this story as gently as possible. That's why the ending is so open.**

 **I do not own Fairy Tail.**

::::::::::::::::

 _A week ago…_

"She may start screaming at you. Don't worry, she never means anything she says during these outbursts. And she has severe monophobia, so you need to be with her at all times. That includes in the bathroom! Don't worry, she won't care if you're in there with her."

Mirajane asks, "Is there anything else, Virgo?"

"Um… oh, if she randomly goes to sleep, that's ok. She tires easily, so that's expected."

"Are you done yet?" Lucy groans.

"I think that's everything…" Virgo mutters.

"Alright then," Lucy says, "close, gate of the maiden!"

A swirl of light wraps around Virgo, and she disappears.

Mirajane turns to Lucy, "So, why did you want her to leave again?"

Lucy sighs, "She hadn't been back to the Celestial World in over a month."

"How long do you think she'll need to recover?"

"I'm planning on giving her at least a week. She'll be ticked, but she needs the time off." An alarm on Lucy's phone goes off then, signaling that it's time for her to use the bathroom again. As she's doing her business, with Mirajane standing off to the side, she notices that she's feeling… off. _'I'm… embarrassed? That's weird, I've never felt like this when it was Virgo standing there… what's the difference? Well, besides it not being Virgo.'_ Unable to find an answer, Lucy mentally shrugs and finishes up, taking a little longer than usual due to the embarrassment. She gets back in her chair and rolls over to the door, getting Mira's attention.

"Are you done?" Mira asks.

"Uh-huh."

::::::::::::::::

 _Now…_

"Huh?"

"I asked what Mira did."

Virgo had just gotten back from her week-long stay in the Celestial World, and what had she come home to? Lucy crying with Mirajane standing over her. Virgo had, of course, immediately come to Lucy's defense and punched Mira through the wall, come to find out that Mira apparently hadn't done anything.

"Didn't she hurt you…?" Virgo asks.

"What? No! I hurt myself! On accident, of course!"

"How did you do that!?"

"I forgot… well, pretty much everything."

"Everything?"

"But… I do remember one thing…"

"And what's that?" Virgo asks curiously.

Lucy softly kisses Virgo on the lips, then gets a light blush as she shyly smiles. "I love you."

To say that Virgo was confused would be like saying that the universe is big. She isn't even coordinated enough to blush yet.

' _Wha- bu- I- you- bu- we- wha-'_

Lucy looks at Virgo, "Is something wrong?"

Finally, Virgo turns redder than a tomato and screeches, "EHHHHH!?"

Lucy's smile disappears, "Virgo…?"

Virgo trips backwards. Her eyes are practically swirls, there's steam coming off of her head, and Lucy's pretty sure that that's smoke coming out of her ears…

Lucy begins to tear up, _'Does… does she not feel that way…? But… but I thought…'_

Lucy's first sob snaps Virgo out of her maelstrom of emotions.

Virgo has three choices at this point. Reject Lucy's feelings and break her heart, Try and find time to think this all over and break her heart, or accept Lucy's feelings.

She takes the obvious choice.

She kisses Lucy.

::::::::::::::::

 **AAAAAND instead of "slow burn", I wound up with "raging inferno." Anyway, that's a wrap!**

 **Again, I apologize for how short this is.**

 **While I'm not putting this up for adoption, I am perfectly fine with people using this fic as a starting point for their own.**


End file.
